Richard Walker

This “bonus” episode of This Week in Startups (TWiST) is an almost three-hour conversation between Jason Calacanis and Annie Duke. This is an atypical episode in that Duke is a professional poker player — not your average CEO. http://thisweekinstartups.com/2009... "Another bonus episode of TWiST – and Jason’s guest is the world’s best female poker player, Annie Duke! Annie has one over $3,000,000 in tournaments, won the World Series of Poker and is a noted writer, blogger, philanthropist and TV personality (she was recently on Season 2 of “Celebrity Apprentice“). Most impressively, she’s managed to turn her hobby of playing poker into a full on career and brand. Plus, she’s launching her own startup soon, but its probably not what you’d expect." The conversation topics include traditional and online gambling, gambling media, tournament gambling, internet poker, mathematics, probability, statistics, psychology, critical thinking, skill vs. luck, result analysis, “tilt”, ethics, legislation, economics, politics, RICO act, “Betting” vs. gambling, cheating, brand issues, legal issues and twitter. Calacanis played in the World Series of Poker recently, and has said he wants to “go pro”; his current job as CEO is “exhausting.” Duke was discouraged from being the “smart girl” by her mother, so she focused on a liberal arts education. Thankfully, she later found an enjoyable and very profitable way to benefit from her innate “math geek” nature. - Richard Walker

"Literary Death Match wants to thank you for all of the support for this amazing year of Death Matches! The December event will be free (our gift to you) and feature some of our favorite participants this year to share their best (or worst) holiday story. Past LDM runners-up Derek Powazek and Lynka Adams, along with the beautiful and brilliant past judges Beth Spotswood and Elissa Bassist to read. The Rumpus' Isaac Fitzgerald on Performance, Judging Intangibles will be the one and only Chicken John. More to come.... *Where: The Elbo Room, 647 Valencia *When: Friday, December 11th Doors, 6:30, show 7:15 *Cost: FREE, Happy Holidays! " - Richard Walker

"Results tagged “sfist_drinks”" *With Xmas swiftly approaching, we could all use a drink. And in our quest for seasonal libations, SFist brings you this holiday spin on sangria from H. Joseph Ehrmann at Elixir. In his own words: Continue reading "SFist Drinks: The Yuletide Moon from Elixir" *In looking for good autumnal cocktails to feature, we came across this delicious ginger concoction from DOSA on Fillmore, which has been doing great stuff with pairing cocktails to their food. The Ginger Ante cocktail, created by bartender Usman Chaudhary, would be perfect as an opener for Thanksgiving dinner, particularly with some roasted pumpkin seeds to nibble on, or this stuffed snow pea appetizer that Brock likes so much. Continue reading "SFist Drinks: The Ginger Ante Cocktail from DOSA" *We made mention earlier this week of the imminent opening of brand new Hayes Valley Tiki bar, Smuggler's Cove. Assuming you absolutely can not wait to try some of the rummy, tropical deliciousness that will be served up there beside the indoor water features, we went straight to the source, bar manager/owner Martin Cate, for a recipe. Here's what he gave us: Continue reading "SFist Drinks: The Fogcutter from Smuggler's Cove" - Richard Walker

"The world's biggest all-mashup bootleg party comes to Australia! Next Bootie Brisbane party: SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER BEETLE BAR @ CLOUD 9 350 Upper Roma Street, Brisbane, Queensland 4000 9pm-3am FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT!" - Richard Walker

"(AP) Til death do us part? The vow would really hold true in California if a Sacramento Web designer gets his way. In a movement that seems ripped from the pages of Comedy Channel writers, John Marcotte wants to put a measure on the ballot next year to ban divorce in California. The effort is meant to be a satirical statement after California voters outlawed gay marriage in 2008, largely on the argument that a ban is needed to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage. If that's the case, then Marcotte reasons voters should have no problem banning divorce. "Since California has decided to protect traditional marriage, I think it would be hypocritical of us not to sacrifice some of our own rights to protect traditional marriage even more," the 38-year-old married father of two said. Marcotte said he has collected dozens of signatures, including one from his wife of seven years. The initiative's Facebook fans have swelled to more than 11,000. Volunteers that include gay activists and members of a local comedy troupe have signed on to help. Marcotte is looking into whether he can gather signatures online, as proponents are doing for another proposed 2010 initiative to repeal the gay marriage ban. But the odds are stacked against a campaign funded primarily by the sale of $12 T-shirts featuring bride and groom stick figures chained at the wrists. Marcotte needs 694,354 valid signatures by March 22, a high hurdle in a state where the typical petition drive costs millions of dollars. Even if his proposed constitutional amendment made next year's ballot, it's not clear how voters would react. Nationwide, about half of all marriages end in divorce. Not surprisingly, Marcotte's campaign to make divorce in California illegal has divided those involved in last year's campaign for and against Proposition 8. As much as everyone would like to see fewer divorces, making it illegal would be "impractical," said Ron Prentice, the executive director of the California Family Council who led a coalition of religious and conservative groups to qualify Proposition 8. No other state bans divorce, and only a few countries, including the Philippines and Malta, do. The Roman Catholic Church also prohibits divorce but allows annulments. The California proposal would amend the state constitution to eliminate the ability of married couples to get divorced while allowing married couples to seek an annulment. Prentice said proponents of traditional marriage only seek to strengthen the one man-one woman union. "That's where our intention begins and ends," he said. Jeffrey Taylor, a spokesman for Restore Equality 2010, a coalition of same-sex marriage activists seeking to repeal Proposition 8, said the coalition supports Marcotte's message but has no plans to join forces with him. "We find it quite hilarious," Taylor said of the initiative. Marcotte, who runs the comedy site BadMouth.net in his spare time, said he has received support from across the political spectrum. In addition to encouragement from gay marriage advocates, he has been interviewed by American Family Association, a Mississippi-based organization that contributed to last year's Yes on 8 campaign. He was mentioned by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's "Countdown" during his "World's Best Persons" segment for giving supporters of Proposition 8 their "comeuppance in California." Marcotte, who is Catholic and voted against Proposition 8, views himself as an accidental activist. A registered Democrat, he led a "ban divorce" rally recently at the state Capitol in Sacramento to launch his effort and was pleasantly surprised at the turnout. About 50 people showed up, some holding signs that read, "You too can vote to take away civil rights from someone." Marcotte stopped dozens of people during another signature drive in downtown Sacramento. Among them was Ryan Platt, 32, who said he signed the petition in support of his lesbian sister, even though he thinks it would be overturned if voters approved it. "Even if by some miracle this did pass, it would never stand up to the federal government," Platt said. "And if it did, there's something really wrong with America." Other petition signers said they were motivated by a sincere interest to preserve marriages. One was Ervin Hulton, a 47-year-old dishwasher who said he believes in making it harder for couples to separate. "The way I feel, why go out and spend all these tons of money for marriage, the photography and all that? And along down the line, it's going to shatter," said Hulton, who is single. The U.S. divorce rate is 47.9 percent, according to data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics reports. That figure, however, does not include California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana and Minnesota because those six states no longer report their divorce rates to the center. California stopped because of budget problems, said Ralph Montano, a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health. While most people would not support banning divorce, it does make sense for couples to be educated about the financial and emotional commitments of marriage, said Dan Couvrette, chief executive and publisher of Toronto-based Divorce Magazine. The publication has a circulation of 140,000, including a regional edition in Southern California. "It's a worthwhile conversation to have," said Couvrette, who started the magazine in 1996 after going through his own divorce. "I don't think it's just a frivolous thought."" - Richard Walker

While I love the point this effort makes I think if it passed it would do far more to hurt marriage. My suspicion is that if it were enacted that marriage would all but cease to happen in California. - Sparky, lurking

This would probably have some bad effects if it actually passed. - John (bird whisperer)

Maybe not as bad as some of the propositions on Ca ballots that have already passed. - Brian Sullivan

"Another bonus episode of TWiST – and Jason’s guest is the world’s best female poker player, Annie Duke! Annie has one over $3,000,000 in tournaments, won the World Series of Poker and is a noted writer, blogger, philanthropist and TV personality (she was recently on Season 2 of “Celebrity Apprentice“). Most impressively, she’s managed to turn her hobby of playing poker into a full on career and brand. Plus, she’s launching her own startup soon, but its probably not what you’d expect. Check out the entire episode to find out how she got started, what keeps her going, what’s coming up from her and so much more." - Richard Walker

"This was the first IQ² debate broadcast live, with an associated twitter hashtag. A few questions were taken from the twitter stream. Note: many of the uses of the hashtag since yesterday are “hashtag spam.”" http://twitter.com/intelli... http://twitter.com/#search... - Richard Walker

I get all teared up, and I can still hear the schlocky music playing in my head. SERIOUSLY. WTF????!!!! - Richard Walker

via a tip on the Rick Ross forums - Richard Walker

So off topic, but did you go to the SF Write-a-thon? - Shevonne

Thanks! - Richard Walker

Ho ho ho, indeed! - Richard Walker